The following question was asked on the Nottingham List about dealing
with the triple peel in Advanced Play .

I'd welcome advice
from experienced triplers on this situation, which seems to happen
to me quite a lot but is hardly covered in Wylie [Expert
Croquet Tactics, Author: Keith Wylie, Soft back, 154 pages. Illustrated with
b/w diagrams. Published 1991]. I cleanly peel 4-back before hoop 6 and get a good rush to
6, so I can expect to get a rush as desired after 6. It seems to me that
there are (at least) two possible options for what to do after
running 6.

(a) Rush the hoop 6 pioneer into Corner III/east boundary alongside hoop
3, then stop it down towards 2-back, getting a rush on the peelee towards
penult before taking off to the 1-back pioneer.

(b) Leave the hoop 6 pioneer more or less where it is and take off to the
peelee, rush it off the north boundary behind 1-back and stop it down to 2-back
going to the 1-back pioneer.

It seems to me that option (a) has the advantage of allowing me to have a
go at the death-roll peel going to 2-back. [i.e. split roll in front of penult
which peels the peelee whilst the striker's ball travels to the pioneer at
2-back]. However I find it very difficult to estimate the amount of pull required
on that peel, and if it fails it is often much more difficult to get the balls
in good position to peel penult going to 4-back. Option (b) precludes the death-roll,
but makes peeling penult before 4-back correspondingly easier. It also usually
allows for a better pioneer at 2-back.

I'd be very interested to hear what option reliable triplers would go for.

Thanks.

NP

Summary of Responses

Option (a) offers the chance of completing all three
peels before running 3-back, which is safer if you are tripling
your opponent - you have done all the work before conceding the
contact. It also avoids the 'all-or-nothing' straight rover peel.
Option (a) is perceived generally as more difficult as the 2-back pioneer
has to be placed from Corner III and an accurate rush is required
to move the peelee to penult.

Option (b) appears generally favoured and it offers the chance of a penult
peel going to 3-back as well as the more standard peel going to 4-back or straight
at penult.

Option (c) (v.i., setting for the penult peel after 1-back with a long rush
to 2-back). This is rated as too risky.

Discussions

Option (b). Send the peelee down to 2-back leaving the hoop 6 pioneer near
to hoop 6. Rush the peelee/'2-back' pioneer back to penult after 2-back giving
yourself a 10% chance of a peel. If you are not in position for an immediate
penult peel then set up for a delayed double, i.e. peeling penult before 4-back.

CW

I'd almost always go for option (b), mainly because it's fairly rare that
I get a rush into 3rd corner after hoop 6, and even if I do, I have to have
peeled by less than a yard for my stop shot to be able to get a rush on the
peelee and get the croqueted ball to 2-back with Barlow balls. Putting partner
[peelee] to 2-back has the advantages that you generally are doing it from
10-12 yards closer and so are that much more accurate, and also there is the
chance of rushing back after 2-back and getting the peel in then.

If I have a rush towards Corner III, then I will always take it, even though
I intend to put partner to 2-back, there is no reason to play a take-off if
you don't have to.

If you go for the death-roll option, then there should be no reason why you
would not get the balls in position accurately, unless you don't go back to
the peelee before 3-back (of course, just to contradict myself, here it might
be worth playing a take-off rather than rushing the peelee back down to 3-back
and croqueting it back again).

DM

I go for option (b) almost all the time. Mainly because it's much easier and
safer. One or two other advantages are

You have a reasonable chance of rushing after 2-back to a position where
you can peel or jaws at penult immediately.

You do not need a rush after 6 so your rush to 6 doesn't need to be
quite so accurate. I find this relieves the pressure significantly.

After 1-back. You can place the escape ball for the penult peel reasonably
accurately before going to 2-back. This guards against
failing to get the rush out of 2-back or if your 3-back pioneer
is poor, you can rush to it after 2-back and get a rush on it while sending
the peelee to penult.

All in all, it's just much cleaner and neater and the only disadvantage is
that you forego the opportunity to peel penult before 2-back which is an unattractive
proposition with a poor 2-back pioneer. And since you are sending your 2-back
pioneer from Corner III it is likely to be fairly poor.

RB

After years of persisting with option (a), and losing many games as a result
(duff pioneer at 2-back leading to giveaway of easy 4 ball-break for opponent
with lift) I now favour (b). Only if lawn conditions are favourable for stop-shots
and the peelee has just dribbled through would I go for (a) nowadays.

ED

I prefer to keep option (a) open by at least going for the rush on the pioneer
to Corner III or east of hoop 3 and seeing how good a stop-shot I can play
to position that ball as a pioneer 3-4 yards short of 2-back. I don't want
a rush on partner to penult, instead it is better to rush it off the middle
of the N boundary. Only then you make your choice.

1. If the 2-back pioneer is in good position for the roll-peel after 1-back
(i.e. 3-4 yards north and a little east of 2-back so
that a roquet from up to 3 yards away will not knock it past the hoop), I
play a roll/pass-roll as required to position partner 1 yard north of penult
and get onto the 1-back pioneer.

I think it is worth trying the roll-peel because there is then a reasonable
chance of doing the Rover peel before 3-b or at least
getting partner very tight to Rover for an eventual straight
peel.

2. If the 2-back pioneer is either too close to 2-back (so a 3 yard roquet
after the roll-peel will knock it past the hoop) or too
far away for comfort, then I revert to loading 2-back with partner as well
with the intent that the 1-back pioneer will go to 3-back and the other enemy
ball will be sent back to just southeast of penult before making 2-back off
partner, with the chance of rushing partner back to penult after 2-back and
peeling it at once, before rushing the other enemy ball down south.

Horses for courses. I like rolling almost as much as stop shots.

SM

The real advantage of peeling penult before 2-back is being able to peel rover
before 3-back, avoiding the straight rover peel. A good peel is therefore necessary;
dribbling it through has no real advantage.

Whilst I agree with the safely arguments advanced by the other contributors,
a clean peel and a rush where you want after hoop 6 implies good control, so
I see no real reason why you shouldn't take the rush to Corner III and place
your 2-back pioneer, if it's good continue and place peelee in front of penult,
if not use it for the 2-back pioneer - the places you need to rush it to for
the two options are not far apart so it makes no difference to the previous
croquet shot.

If before the "death-roll" attempt, you are too far from penult
to be sure of at least hitting the jaws, leave it for later otherwise, as you
imply, you risk not being able to get the balls organised for the penult before
4-back.

Having two 2-back pioneers is no problem - in fact it helps you get a good
3-back pioneer - if you are peeling penult before 4-back, a good rush out of
3-back is really helpful, possibly even crucial, and a good 3-back pioneer
assures this.

Make sure that the auxiliary 2-back pioneer goes back to the penult box before
2-back - then you still get the speculative penult after 2-back and are covered
if you don't get a rush out of 2-back at all.

There's no doubt that it's safer if you don't try to push the peels but take
a relaxed approach - when you come onto sextuples though, getting the peels
done early makes a great deal of difference.

The variety is what makes peeling turns interesting, so don't stick with just
one way of doing it, you'll go out of your mind!

DK

The stop shot in option (a) should not be too difficult, particularly if Dawson
balls are used. If the death-roll peel to 2-back fails, provided the striker's
ball is good then a second attempt going to 3-back is sometimes possible, where
jawsing or better gives an easier finish than the delayed or straight double.
There is also an option (c) which nobody has mentioned: rush to Corner III
after hoop 6 (or take off after tapping hoop 6 escape ball) and then send it
back to SSW of penult, making for an easier peel after 1-back. However, you
need to be certain of getting a good rush to 2-back; over-running is fatal,
making this option very risky. However, it is easier to set up. The important
point is to concentrate on getting a rush to 2-back and not be distracted by
the peel.

ME

The problem with option (c) is that it is pretty pointless and adds risk;
penult before 2-back is a good line of play in order to get rover before 3-back,
avoiding the straight rover peel. Peeling penult and getting a rush on a nearby
ball implies only peeling it a short distance - go for the roll every time.

DK

If you're TPO-ing, the death roll (option (a)) may be more appealing because
of the chance of a rover peel going to 3-back. The leave then becomes much
easier than if you've got to do straight rover peel. Even ignoring that, the
opportunity of getting a really tight peelee at rover makes organising the
parity of balls for the leave easier than if you're arranging the rover peel
after a later penult peel.